800 likes | 1.01k Views
The Rise of Civilizations/Neolithic Revolution. Timeline. BC= Before Christ, it is sometimes expressed as BCE AD= Year of our lord 0 AD is the year that Jesus was born. Timeline Continued. 14,000 B.C.______________0AD_____________2012AD Numbers get bigger the further away from 0 Ad you get.
E N D
Timeline • BC= Before Christ, it is sometimes expressed as BCE • AD= Year of our lord • 0 AD is the year that Jesus was born
Timeline Continued • 14,000 B.C.______________0AD_____________2012AD • Numbers get bigger the further away from 0 Ad you get
Quiz • What year happened first: 76 BC or 300 BC • 1000 AD or 12oo AD? • 2000 BC or or 200 AD? How many years ago was 8000 BC?
Development of Tools/specialization • The Stone Age- simple stone tools, some hunter gather societies never advanced past the Stone Age • Bronze Age- Specialization in agricultural societies allowed people to begin making bronze tools. Approximately 4000 B.C. • Iron Age- Development of Iron required more technological sophistication but was a huge advantage for societies. Approximately 1300 B.C.
The Neolithic Revolution • The Neolithic Revolution began approximately 14,000 years ago • This refers to the development of agriculture and the shift from hunting and gathering societies to agricultural societies. • Agriculture developed in a number of places at different times • Agriculture began in the “Fertile Crescent
Advantages of the Fertile Crescent • Lots of Sunshine • Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, and Jordan rivers provide constant H20 • Wheat, Barely, Peas, Cows, and Horses grew naturally in the region
The Fertile Crescent Civilizations • Agriculture in the Fertile Crescent led to the development of the world’s first civilizations • Sumer in Mesopotamia • Egypt along the Nile River • The Indus Valley Civilization
Civilizations • Historians usually define civilizations as having the following: Government Social Structure ( upper and middle classes) Large public building projects Specialization, many different jobs
Mesopotamia (The Land Between the Rivers) • The world’s first civilization was Sumer in Mesopotamia. • Mesopotamia is a part of the Fertile Crescent (Present day Iraq) • Civilization developed between the Tigris and Euphrates River
Vocabulary • Hunter/Gatherer- Groups of people that depend on hunting and gathering materials from nature to survive • Nomad- Group of people that move seasonally • Agriculture- Growing or raising food • Specialization of Labor- People specializing for their jobs/ Not everybody in society producing food • Domestication- Turning a wild animal/plant into something used and bred by humans. • Irrigation- A system designed to bring water to a farmers crops
Big Questions • What advantages do agricultural societies have over hunter-gather societies? • Why did the development of agriculture lead to the development of governments? • Why was the development of governments an advantage for early societies?
The Neolithic Revolution • The Neolithic Revolution refers to the development of agriculture • Change from hunter/gather societies to agricultural societies • This was one of the most important changes in history
The Development of Agriculture • Agriculture developed independently in a number of different spots at different times (Fertile Crescent, China, Mesoamerica) •The first place to develop agriculture was the “Fertile Crescent” Approximately 8,000 BCE
Advantages of being an agricultural society • A better food supply than hunting and gathering • Having more food allows more people to live/larger populations
Advantages of being an agricultural society cont. • Agricultural societies developed the world’s first towns • Towns had defensive walls around them
Specialization of labor • Agriculture allowed for specialization of labor • Farmers could produce enough food for other people to specialize at other jobs/More efficient • Examples: Soldiers, traders, government workers, builders, toolmakers
The Development of Governments • Specialization of labor/Agriculture allowed for the development of the world’s first governments • Enough food was produced for government workers to focus on ruling the society, not making food for themselves
The advantages of governments • Organization for large building projects: Defensive walls, irrigation projects • Organization for armies • Laws • writing
Geographic advantages of Europe/Central Asia Agriculture developed first Large number of food plants and animals No barriers to trading with other regions/This allowed technology and domestic animals to move to other regions
Domestic plants and animals • Plants • Fertile Crescent- wheat, barley, peas, lentils • China- rice • Americas- Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, beans • Africa-Sorghum, coffee • Australia-none • Animals • Fertile Crescent- Cows, sheep, horses • China- Pigs, chickens • Americas- llamas, turkeys, guinea pigs • Africa-none • Australia-none
Trade between Europe and Asia • Nothing prevented Europeans and Asians from trading with each other • Huge advantage for these groups • Domestic animals and plants moved between the groups. Ex. Pigs and chickens from China to Europe • Technology increased with trade between the groups. Ex. Gunpowder in china being used for guns in Europe.
Barriers to trade in other areas • The Sahara desert cuts North Africa off from South Africa • Panamanian jungle cuts the Mayan civilization off from the Inca civilization in the Americas • Little to no trading occurred • Little to no transferring of technology
Lack of technology • The Maya created a wheel that was only used as a toy • Technology was never passed to other groups in the Americas that could use it
Unit Question • How do the domestic plants and animals that a society had access to affect which societies became dominant over other societies?
Mesopotamia • “The land between the rivers” • Part of the Fertile Crescent • Located in what is now Iraq • The first civilizations began in Mesopotamia
Sumer • Frequently called the world’s first civilization • A handful of large cities in Mesopotamia banded together to create the civilization • Ur is thought to be the oldest major city in Sumer
Ziggurats • The center of Sumerian Cities was the Ziggurat • Ziggurats were large religious temples
Question • What can you assume about Sumerian Civilization because they built Ziggurats?
Sumerian writing • Cuneiform/ The world’s first writing system • Symbols cut into clay, the clay was then baked
Writing Systems Writing has only been invented independently in a few locations Fertile Crescent, China, Central America
Writing systems cont • Writing systems were originally developed to keep track of taxes for the government • Cuneiform was the world’s first writing system
Pictographic Writing Systems • The earliest writing systems were all pictographic • Used pictures as a symbol for individual words • Could have thousands of symbols for each language
Challenge • I would love to see a white holiday season this year • Could you please take the trash out
Alphabets • Use symbols for individual sounds • Do not use symbols for whole words • Phoenicians invented the world’s first alphabet • Called the phonetic alphabet • The Phoenicians were an ancient group in the Fertile Crescent